There are plenty of people for whom New Year’s Eve is simply a prelude to what is now Melbourne’s most popular way for hedonists to see in the dawn of a new year, Summadayze. The outdoor New Year’s Day event seems to get bigger by the year, and was sold out at least a month ago. The only way to get tickets was to pay over $180 on eBay. That people are prepared to pay such high prices only proves the enduring appeal of this outdoor celebration of dance music.

To say that last year’s event was a bit of a wash out is an understatement – we witnessed rain of almost biblical proportions at times during the day, and the accessory of the party were cheap plastic ponchos, as opposed to the expected oversized sunglasses. Nervously checking the weather forecast before this event bought fear to my heart as the prediction was for rain and thunderstorms – surely we couldn’t have two wash outs in a row? I rocked up to the venue at 3pm. For those who haven’t been the venue for Summadayze, Sidney Myer Music Bowl is one of the best music venues I have ever visited with one massive main stage set down in the middle of the bowl and a huge hill leading up from it – check out the pictures on ITM for a visual perspective. Also dotted around the venue are the smaller stages which this year featured Famous, Mischief and Trancedayze.

The place was pretty packed when I arrived and the sky ominously grey – the hill up from the main stage was full of party goers, some of whom had clearly had a quiet NYE to save themselves for the day, and others who had clearly been going since NYE with no intention of stopping until the end of the event! The crowd at Summadayze is frequently the subject of scorn by many, being as it consists of many men with their tops off and muscles bulging, and many girls wearing as little as humanly possible. But I found the crowd there reasonably friendly, although there were some hilariously self indulgent types who clearly saw the day as nothing else than to show off their (fake) tanned bodies.

The first DJ I saw was Darren Emerson, once a member of Underworld. He was on at a relatively early time at 3:30 and played an excellent selection of techno, progressive and the odd crossover tune such as Prodigy’s ‘Smack My Bitch Up’. As I had VIP entry I managed to get right to the front of the main stage for his set and the sound system was fantastic – really clear and loud but not enough to cause ringing in the ears. Emerson played some pretty big tunes, such as ‘Blue Monday’, but this was required considering the enormity of the crowd in front of him – serious sets don’t seem to translate properly when played to thousands, so Emerson did the right thing in playing recognisable party tunes. His finish was excellent, and although clichéd, playing ‘Born Slippy’ was an inspired move in my opinion.

I then moved over to the Trancedayze stage to catch one of the UK’s most popular DJs, Judge Jules. Jules is unfairly maligned by many as being cheesy and a bit of an idiot, but he is what he is – a DJ that plays big tunes at peak time. No more, no less. And he does this rather well. He played a good set full of electro house influenced tech trance, but I felt that this was lost on the crowd who I think wanted more uplifting tunes or more of what they heard from Papa Smurf and the rest of Melbourne’s local ‘trance’ DJs. Maybe this stage should be called ‘Hardtrancedayze’ from next year, and put the proper trance DJs such as Jules and Scott Bond on another stage? It’s a shame that proper trance is so unrepresented at this event, but I guess it just reflects its declining popularity in Melbourne. Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed his set and his interaction with the crowd was excellent as always – it’s good to see a DJ enjoying himself! By this stage the clouds had parted and suddenly the sky was blue and the sun was out – hurrah! After anticipating I’d have to wear a poncho I now got the sunscreen out, a most welcome development.

After a quick walk around the place it seemed as if all the stages were progressing nicely, but I decided to head back to the front of the bowl to check out the headline act, Basement Jaxx. Last year the biggest disappointment was undoubtedly Fatboy Slim who was appalling. I am afraid that this ‘honour’ in 2007 must go to the Jaxx. I have seen them perform live several times and they are nothing short of superb – I cannot fathom why they were asked to do a DJ set at Summadayze rather than a live set, as it was clear from their set that DJs they are not. After hearing 5 traincrash mixes in a row I gave up on them – it’s just not acceptable to be this shoddy! The music was OK – punky house interspersed with electro and their own tunes, but the shocking mixing just ruined the set. I have always held the belief that mixing is one of the least important parts of DJing, but it is still a fundamental skill that all DJs should have. Needless to say I didn’t hang around to see if they finally managed to master the art.

The party atmosphere in the venue was rising at this point and people were really getting into their dancing and the music. I ventured towards the Famous stage to hear Tom Neville – his flight was delayed from Sydney so he came on 25 minutes late and then played some fairly average electro. It’s a sound I am becoming slightly bored of to be honest, it’s a little too dark, and his set summed up what is wrong with the recent minimal electro sound for me.

Come 8pm it was time for my most anticipated set of the day, Axwell. I’ve always rated his productions and love all of the ‘Swedish House Mafia’ and their music. I struggled to the front of the bowl again to find a vastly more packed dancefloor and a definite increase in temperature. Axwell lived up to the hype and gave the event the main stage set of the day. Nothing ground breaking but he did exactly what was required as he pumped out massive tunes to the now heaving hill. Highlights of his set included an awesome new mix of Faithless ‘Insomnia’, Kings of Tomorrow ‘Finally’ and his monster remix of Hard Fi ‘Hard to Beat’ – which was the highlight of the day for me. He clearly loved playing as well and I liked his sparkly headphones, a nice touch!

After that excellent set it was going to take a Herculean effort from Bob Sinclair to claim the set of the day title, and it was a shame as he wasn’t up to the task. His set was occasionally excellent but then kept slipping away. His last hour was all about the big tunes of the year, including Chris Lake ‘Changes’ and Bodyrox ‘Yeah, Yeah’ – both of which were met with a huge response by the 20,000 strong crowd. He finished with a very long version of his massive tune, ‘Love Generation’. I’m not a big fan of it but it was appropriate considering the time and place and it went down a storm. This finished at about 10.45 and then he baffled me, and the crowd, by playing James Brown’s ‘I Feel Good’ and a Bob Marley tune to finish. A slightly odd choice, and it meant that the event fizzled out in a way, rather than going off with a bang.

Overall I had a good time at Summadayze. It was well organised, busy – but not annoyingly so – the main stage production was awesome and the crowd were friendly and well behaved. Music wise, Axwell was the standout, but I have also been told that some of the acts I wasn’t able to catch, such as Hybrid and Trentmoller, were excellent. Unfortunately you can’t see everyone at an event of this size. It was a good party , but I don’t think it was brilliant. It was obvious from the happy faces on the many thousands there that they were having the times of their lives. Summadayze is still the best way to spend a New Year’s Day and I am sure that in 2008 it will only get bigger and better.

Happy New Year!